I Comfort You
by DragonGamer0713
Summary: Rule Five of the Rules of Love series. Kaze Tsukaite, Li's classmate and best friend, is depressed over his passing in the hands of a pyro-maniac Contractor. The Black Reaper steals her only chance for vengeance, making her bitter towards the man in the mask. Hei explains to the broken girl why his actions saved her innocence. HeiXOC. (Possible series in the future.)


I Comfort You

Looking down as she walked, Kaze's eyes were dull and lifeless. Dragging her feet across the asphalt of the parking lot of her arsoned college, she sighed as her fingers fondled with the fur inside her jacket pockets. Seeing the charred remains of the building suddenly hit her heart like a double decker bus with a plow in the front going 200 miles per hour. Her stomach tightened to the point it was next to impossible for her to breathe without choking on a sob.

It's been only a week since the accident. The police are guessing it was an electrical fire, but she witnessed the truth; the school was a victim of arson. It was caused by a fire-bearing Contractor with a nasty twisted fetish in causing massive fires and destroying property. Without any remorse or thought in his actions, lives were lost to his madness.

Including one that brought Kaze to her knees with sorrow: Li.

Li was her best and only friend in the world. Shy and caring, he was a sweet guy that loved hanging out with her and loved chilling under the stars with her whenever he had the chance. Kaze was crazy for him, but wouldn't admit it…which became her second biggest regret.

Her first regret is not telling Li that she was a Contractor. She was able to control and harness wind and use it at her disposal. It was normally for soft and light things, but when she was enraged from Li's death at the hands of the pyromanic, she used her ability to choke him out; this was the only time she ever used her powers to attack.

Sadly, she was unable to kill him; the Black Reaper beat her to it, to her dismay.

Just thinking of him made her yell at the top of her voice, "THAT FUCKER! HE TOOK MY CHANCE FOR VENEAGE AWAY FROM ME!"

Rage quickly turned into sorrow, making her fall to her elbows in the concrete, sobbing loudly, knowing no one was around her.

Or, so she thought.

Hei was perched on top of a tree branch nearby, close enough to watch her, but far away enough not to be noticed by her. He sighed softly as he removed his trademark mask, his dark blue, almost black eyes full of pain and guilt towards her torn-up life. His alias, Li, had to die. He was getting too attached to her and his Contractor work was making it very dangerous. He feared if she was in any danger because of his powers.

However, he did sleep better at night, knowing of her strong power of the wind. Admittingly, Hei was shocked the first time he saw her use her skills with the wind. He never would've expected this crazy, but fun girl to be a Contractor as well. Unlike many Contractors (including himself), she barely saws it in her features, giving her the perfect guise. And whenever she did use it in front of Li, he didn't even notice the wind changing direction or get softer at all, thinking it was just the weather.

Seeing Kaze now, however, broke his heart. The strong, free spirit sobbing over the one thing she had to lose: her best friend. With a silent shaky exhale, his eyes closed, shedding his own tears for the girl's broken spirit. With a sniffle, he wiped his eyes clear with his black gloves, placing his mask back on his handsome face, transforming back into the deadly Contractor.

She continued to sob until tears refused to produce anymore, as if her body was telling her to stop the crying and move on. Hiccupping and shaking, she looked down at the ground, seeing the dark, damp spots where her salty tears landed. Wiping her nose with her sleeve, she trembled, "I was too late to save you, Li. I hope you forgive me…"

A little bell chimed, followed by a sad voice, "I'm sure he does, Kaze."

Looking to her right, her misty mahogany eyes rested on a black cat wearing a silver clip on his ear and a red collar with a little bell on it. His eyes were big and round, yellow like a lemon. His ears drooped a little to show his sympathy, "This has been the third time this week you've been here. You shouldn't feel guilty for his death."

"Mao," she called the cat's name, "Buzz off, fuzz ball. I came here to be alone."

"No, you came here to mourn," he walked over to her and licked her forehead, trying to cheer her up, "I know Li was your best friend, but you must let go to move on."

Suddenly, something fell out from underneath her shirt, which Mao took notice. Pawing at it, he asked, "What's this?"

It was a black Chinese character that translated "partner" with a lung dragon spiraling around it, similar to an Ouroboros snake. "Li gave it to me last week, the day before his death."

"What does it mean?" Mao asked, even though he was perfectly aware of what its meaning is. Hei bought it for her, knowing he had to disappear, but at least he was leaving on a happy note when he gave it to her. He described it as a message, saying "Partners forever."

She finally sat up and held the precious medallion in her hand, "The character itself means 'partner', while the dragon Ouroboros symbol means 'eternity'. 'Partners forever.'"

Feeling tears about to hit her again, she pulled her hood up and brought her knees to her face, shielding her face away from Mao, not wanting him to see her cry. The Contractor-turned-cat frowned deeply, hating to see the strong and fiery girl now a broken, teary-eyed mess. Rubbing against her leg with a purr, he tried to be comforting, "You'll see him again, I swear it. In the meantime, maybe you should…"

"If you complete that sentence with 'give Hei a chance', I'll skin you alive," she hissed, flashing her red eyes with unrivaled rage. If there was one she hated worse than her guilt, it was Hei. He was the one who killed the Contractor who burned down the college and stole Li's life away from her. He also was the one who brought her to Daisho's boarding house for Contractors, which she hated. In fact, out of sheer rage of that one task of murdering her target, she created a very nasty grudge against the Black Reaper.

"Oh, the irony," Mao frowned as the truth crossed his mind of Hei's identity. He did say out loud, "Please. He loves you."

Hei, who was still in the tree, blushed madly, his gloved hands clenched, "I'm going to skin him myself if he says anything else." Despite his threat, his heart skipped; Mao's statement was right.

Li had to die to get rid of his ties, but Kaze refused to let him go. Hei couldn't let go of her either. He was in love with her.

"Mao, that's a lie. He can't stand me."

"Why do you say that?" the black cat asked, his tail swishing against the gravel.

Wiping her eyes clear again and placing the medallion back into her shirt, she took a deep breath and answered, "He acts so annoyed with me."

"That's because you keep attacking him," he spoke in a deadpan tone. "I'd be annoyed too."

"He barks at me during training and forcing me to mess up."

"That's to help you concentrate and make it second nature to use the wind under distractions and other things."

"And he just glares at me, looming over me like a fuckin' spook! Just like Slender man. I turn a corner and had to bolt away from the sudden jump scare!"

Mao sighed, "Ok, I'll give you that one. He does appear when you least expect it."

Sighing, Kaze finally stood up and looked back at the college, frowning deeply. "I came here to be alone, but I'm never alone, am I?"

"Li is watching over you, Kaze," Mao smiled kindly, trying to make her statement less negative and more positive. "He's always watching. And that medallion is just a piece of his heart he gave to you, so you'll never be alone again."

She smiled sadly, scooping up the cat into her arms, "Thanks, Mao."

He yowled a bit, shocked that she picked him up, "Y-You're welcome. Can you put me down? Or at least let me go on your shoulders?"

"I knew of a cat that would do that. When she was picked up, she would purr madly, but then would claw up the person's chest and claw onto their shoulders and stay there. Go ahead." Mao clawed up her jacket and rested along her shoulders, purring as she walked out of the lot and back into civilization.

Walking back to the compound with a pizza in her hand and a store bag in the other, Kaze leaned into the door to make it open, allowing entry of her and Mao. The cat walked in and looked up, seeing Hei leaning against the wall, "Look who's back."

Kaze's face turned into a sour scowl at the sight of the man. "Great…it's you."

"Remember what I said?" Mao looked up at her, hoping Hei didn't hear him.

"What did you say?" the masked man scowled, not liking what Mao's been saying about him.

"Nothing. It's a secret between me and the cat," Kaze replied as she muscled past him into the courtyard.

"Why do you hate me so much?!" Hei finally asked with a sigh of defeat, as if the question itself was weighing him down.

She stopped and sighed, "You stole my only chance to get revenge for my best friend's death…"

Hei sighed and placed a very strong hand on her shoulder. Oddly, she didn't flinch from his touch. "Li would not want to see you hell bent on revenge for his sake. Trust me."

He walked away from her, Mao looking back with wide eyes. Kaze looked over her shoulder, feeling a little guilty. "Was he…actually trying to give me advice?"

"I told you before. He truly loves you," Mao repeated himself.

Kaze sighed as she walked to her favorite spot in the compound: on top of the sentry tower. It was like a crow's nest on a ship; it's main purpose is to look out for enemies against the Contractors. However, no one uses it, so Kaze made it her own hideaway spot. Tossing the pizza box up onto the floor so she could climb the rest of the way, she grunted as Mao jumped off her shoulders and up onto the landing. "Now you know of my secret spot, Mao. This is where I go to get away from it all."

"Nice to see you can be away, but still be in the compound at the same time. Why do you go to the ruins if that's the case?"

"Sometimes I need to get out and escape these walls. And the training…and Hei's constant sudden appearances." She pulled out a slice of pizza and took a giant bite.

"Hey, remember when Hei killed that other Contractor?" Mao asked, knew he was bringing up a sore subject.

She sighed, "I'm reminded of it every day…"

"Wanna know why he did that?" Mao stated, leaping onto the open window sill.

"Why?" she asked, taking a bottle of vodka out of the bag.

The black cat looked at her with serious eyes as he told the tale, "You are aware of how badly Contractors are treated and behave like criminals. Yes, a good 90% of Contractors are evil. Only a handful of us still have some humanity left in them enough to make the right choices. Right off the bat, Daisho, you, and me."

"Ok, I'm listening."

"Well, when Hei and I discovered you, we both noticed you never used your abilities to harm or kill anyone. In fact, you used them for good and slightly minor things. When you got enraged, however, he knew that those powers were going to maim and kill the attacker, so to save your soul and not become one of the 90%, Hei killed the man instead of letting you do it. He wanted to protect you and not become one of those Contractors that will kill with their powers."

She frowned, looking down at her vodka bottle. "So…Hei…wanted to save my soul?"

"Yes." A voice emerged from the shadows.

Looking up, Kaze leaped out of her skin, crashing into the wall, "FUCKIN' HOUDINI!"

Even Mao's fur stood up with a startled yowl.

Suddenly, Hei began to laugh in the shadows, laughing hard at Kaze's sudden reaction. With a snort, he removed his mask and covered his mouth to muffle himself, but his shaky body gave him away. He was laughing his ass off, forcing him to take a knee, hitting the wall with his fist. "I'm sorry…" he snorted, "It's too funny."

"You gave me a fuckin' heart attack! Damnit, Hei, what if I drop dead from one of your random jump scares!?"

Still in the shadows, he sat down and giggled, still trying to calm himself, "I'm sorry, Kaze. I didn't mean to scare you. And if you do drop dead, I'd jump-start your heart again. My electricity is not just for killing, you know."

"I thought you were going to perform CPR, but I like the electricity better."

"You're making it sound like I'm dying for a kiss from you," he stated, finally able to calm down.

"Nope."

"Mao, thanks for letting me know that I can't open my mouth around you because you will tell her anything," he growled a little at the cat on the sill.

"I'm sorry, but I did it so she could try to let go and learn more about you, Hei," the cat defended himself.

"Then I will talk to her myself. Mao, if you could."

The Contractor sighed as he stood up and hopped down from the sill. "Sorry, Kaze, I will leave you two alone now. Don't kill him, ok?"

"No promises."

Mao chuckled as he jumped down the hatch, leaving the two young Contractors alone. Looking back into the shadows, Kaze stated, "You removed your mask. Why?"

"Even I need to remove it every once and awhile. Not easy for the complexion."

"Can I see your face?" she asked, something she's been dying to see, no matter how much she hates him.

He shook his head, black locks shielding his face, "No."

"I didn't expect you to be the shy type."

"I'm not shy. I'm just…self-conscious."

"Lightly put, I'm guessing," she muttered, placing the pizza box between them. "Help yourself to a piece."

He nodded as he took a slice of pizza from the box. "Hawaiian. Your favorite."

"How did you know that?" she asked, taking a bite.

Hei stopped and quickly thought of an excuse, "I remember Mao carrying a scrap of it last time you bought pizza."

"Really? That was…about a month ago when Li and I were working overtime on that science project."

Hei stated, "Mao and I were always watching you."

"Then you should understand how much he meant to me. I loved him. I regret not telling him that…" she sighed, looking down at her slice of half-eaten pizza. "That and not telling him I was a Contractor."

"Hey, Kaze," he whispered, his voice soft from his usually gruff or strong voice, "Come here."

The way he spoke, reminded her of Li for some reason. Looking up at him, tears brimming in her eyes again, she obeyed. Crawling into the darkness with him, she felt his arms wrap around her, pulling her close, so close that she couldn't look up or shift her head too much. "Hei…"

"I know for a fact, that Li would never hold anything against you. You know why?"

"Why?"

"Because he loved you too."

Her hands gripped his coat tightly, squeezing her eyes closed, tears silently rolling down her face once more at Hei's words. His fingers pulled her chin up enough to expose her forehead to him, planting a very gentle and comforting kiss on it. For some reason, her tears subsided, as if that kiss erased her sadness and loneliness. Her heart skipped a little, feeling the blood rush to her face.

"Why did you kiss me?"

He blushed softly and spoke with a gentle voice, "I wanted to comfort you. I hate to see you so upset."

"Thanks, Hei. I needed it."

With a gentle smile, his dark blue eyes shined, "You're welcome, Kaze."

"I still hate you though…"

Hei chuckled, "A little less, I hope."

"Yeah…a little less."

Rule of Love:

Kiss on the forehead=I Comfort You

July 2014


End file.
